1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to carriers configured to be attached to vehicles, more particularly to such carriers having a collapsed or folded configuration when not in use.
2. Background Art
A variety of equipment carriers for vehicles are known in the art. A common type of such carriers is a hitch rack, which has a coupler adapted to be received in a receptacle of a hitch receiver of the vehicle normally used to receive a coupling arrangement for connection to a trailer to be pulled or pushed. Usually, the trailer hitch receiver has a tubular configuration with a rectangular cross-section and receives therein a tubular foot member of the rack which can be locked in place through various means. Such racks generally support bicycles, ski equipment, other sporting or recreational articles, or various other equipments such as, for example, wheelchairs.
A common use of such racks is for the transportation of bicycles, with the rack suspending one or more bicycles at the rear of an automotive vehicle or at the front of a large vehicle, the bicycle support structure being cantilevered from a post having a base portion thereof received within the hitch receiver on the vehicle.
Most of such known cantilevered-type hitch racks produce a relatively large overhang behind the vehicle when they are not being used to support bicycles or other equipment thereon, even those allowing a folded configuration.